Daniil's Blog

In Japan(and a few other countries as well), quinoa is dubbed by some manufacturers as ‘superfood’. The criteria for the concept of superfood are not well-specified, but usually by that term people mean a food item with a large amount of every nutrient, large enough, so that eating few hundred grams will replenish the daily supply of a large amount of nutrients. Back to quinoa. As helthline.com states, quinoa isn’t a grain, it is a ‘pseudocereal’. The dietary intakes chart at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov illustrates that an early teen needs 130 grams of carbohydrates, and 34 grams of protein. These two nutrients are the most found in quinoa. However, since this pseudocereal contains 21 g of carbs, and 4.4 g of protein, the same early teen needs to eat 600 g(21 oz) of quinoa to get the daily dose of carbs, and 750g (26.5 oz) to get enough protein. Such high amounts of quinoa required just for early teens(some age/gender groups need way more carbs/proteins)According to kidshealth.org, both of these nutrients provide energy to the body, while protein also helps to build tissues.

One thing that defines quinoa from its carb-rich brethren is the fact that it doesn’t contain gluten, meaning that it can be consumed by a wider range of people as a carb source. However, quinoa isn’t much popular in Japan, with some sources that contain more nutrients and are more common. Japanese short-grain rice contains 29 grams of carbohydrates compared to quinoa’s 21, and it can be found in many a store in Japan(but for those allergic to gluten, quinoa will do the trick). Edamame(another staple food in Japan) has whopping 12 grams of protein per 100g, while quinoa has measly 4.5 grams. And as mentioned earlier, carbs and protein are two most common nutrients in quinoa, meaning that there’s even less fiber and fat. Therefore,

Lastly, about quinoa. Despite the fact that it contains less carbohydrates and proteins than some other foods, its redeeming quality is the lack of gluten, to which a lot of people are allergic. Therefore, quinoa can be a great addition to your diet, but it certainly not that ‘super’ to outshine other foods.

The term ‘superfood’ may confuse quite a lot of people, especially if it doesn’t state why is a certain food super enough. Quinoa fits the niche of a gluten-free carbohydrate source, but it doesn’t fare that well with other nutrients. This is why calling it super isn’t a very good idea, especially since no one food has enough various nutrients for a person. Therefore, in my opinion, quinoa doesn’t deserve the title of superfood. More like ‘gluten-free carbohydrate source’.

Tin is a metal which has atomic number of 50, and atomic mass of 118.71. It is easy to bend, and it is used in technological industry as soldering component(fixes things in place).

It comes from many different countries, the top 5 being: Mozambique, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Because DRC is the top third producer of this metal, it earns quite a lot of money, most of which go supporting the warfare, which according to Marcus Bleadale, is due to the government’s weak control, and military self-interest. Due to active use of child labor there, this makes for a governmental, economical, and ethical issues.

Gold is also a metal, which has an atomic number of 79, and atomic mass of 199.967. Gold is used for covering copper wires, because:

It doesn’t oxidize(turn green on air)

Non-toxic(don’t worry if you swallowed a phone, it’s not poisonous)

It conducts electricity well(just like copper)

It takes a tiny amount of gold to cover something(like copper wires, so they won’t oxidize)

It is mined a lot around the world, in countries like China, Australia, US, Russia, South Africa, etc. Although DRC mines only 0.13% compared to the rest of the world, this country dishes out insane amounts of money(167,750,000), more than a half of which goes to support the warfare around. The factors there, which are same as above(poor government control, military self-interest, child labor) are a sure sign of an ethical, governmental, and economical issues.

In order to solve the problem, there are three solutions(one is purely theoretical). The first one, is to use technology of Fairphone company, which uses materials from higher-paid, and more ethical mines. It can also be assembled and reassembled all over again, which means that there’s no tin at all to fix the parts to their places. The catch is that the Fairphone company is just starting out with its technology, and it can’t be shipped outside Europe. Yet…

Another solution is to send broken technology to Apple, to be more precise to its robot Liam, which dissembles components of Apple technology, so that they can be used over and over again.

But in order to let Apple to get right into ethical business, so that they can use more ethical mining sources, and recycle existing products. This is the most practical, and likely solution for the problem.

I’ve done well at transferring the final motif to the carving plate, because it is in near-perfect condition so far. And I’m proud of using the exact mathematic proportions for the pattern, because it made easier for me to get the pattern motif to interlock. My project isn’t void of weaknesses either. For example, for horses in my cultural interest I’d add mane-resembling spikes on their necks, in order to create a more impressive pattern. And for a personal interest, I could add horns to those horses, in order to indicate that my favorite show is ‘MLP:FiM’ which is about the unicorn student getting friends and solving problems with them.

As for the interlocking part, I don’t know yet how much accurate it is, but I hope it will turn out accurate enough. I’m sure that my interlocking creates new shapes, but I doubt it shall create a new pattern. Speaking of the color plan, I haven’t worked on it yet, but I’m sure that the top side’ negative space shall be white, middle side’s negative space shall be blue, and the bottom side’s negative space shall be red, while al the positive space shall be black. Those colors are unified, because together they create Russian flag, which is the symbol of the country I grew up in.

I’ve learned to manipulate values in order to create 3D-looking face. In the beginning of semester, I could only draw 2-dimensional self-portrait, without any knowledge of gradation or how to use blending stump. Now, I can draw realistic face with all the shadows and highlights included. Also, I’ve learned to collaborate and ask for feedback more often. For example, I asked Karthik on how could I improve my nose. And he gave some very valuable feedback. I wouldn’t have achieved drawing a 3D face without asking feedback like I did.

Next time, I’d change two things. First, I’ll draw my face a bit smaller, so I could have more space for the unicorn in the background, because unicorns are some of my favourite animals. Second, I’d draw myself with the soccer player haircut, because that is my most favourite haircut.

I’d describe myself as cooperative and committed. First, I was cooperative, because I’ve been asking for feedback, and giving it too. Second, I was committed, because I’ve been coming to Open Studio, and concentrated entirely on drawing and refining my self-portrait in class, even though I’ve been unsuccessful at times.

I’ve made a softcover book “Finist the Bright Falcon” for the entertainment purposes only. Even though I spent most of the time working on it, it took me lots of time to finish it. The strengths of this design are: it can’t be easily ripped apart by kids, its pages are easy to flip over, and it is bright and colourful. The weaknesses are: the book is already a bit tattered and it doesn’t have pop-ups. Despite that, I hope, my book will be positively received by my audience.